REVIEW: Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb

In Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb, The one thing that has kept Brynn going since her divorce a couple years ago is snuggling up evenings after work to watch reruns of her favorite teen drama from back in the day, Carson’s Cove. It might be five seasons of angst, friendships, and unrequited romance, but for Brynn, she believed the hype of it being the place where everything works out as it should be. Something she can only hope is true in real life as well. So, color her surprised when her wish on a cake that appears on her thirtieth birthday somehow sends her to Carson’s Cove. Brynn finds out her purpose is to give the main characters, Sloan and Spencer, the HEA they should have had if the show hadn’t been canceled suddenly. And her partner in the task is none other than her roommate, Josh.

“My nana always said that it’s not a birthday until you make a wish. So you have to at least have a bite tonight.” He hands me the plate. “Happy birthday, Brynn.”
What single thing do I want more than anything else in this world? …I want to finally get the perfect happily ever after. So I close my eyes, hold on to that feeling, and blow.

Josh was always busy at his father’s bar as a teen, helping out behind the scenes, so he never got pulled into watching Carson’s Cove or any of the other popular teen shows. But when he wakes up in an unfamiliar place and people start calling him by someone else’s name, Fletcher, Brynn becomes his lifeline. She knows the storylines, characters, and the island itself inside out. As they navigate the confusing task before them, Josh finds himself enjoying getting to know Brynn better. And he can’t deny they make a great team. The attraction between them, though…that could spell disaster. Because as they make inroads on getting the characters to where they finally need to be, Josh can’t imagine any other outcome than him and Brynn having a future together.

‘Brynn was just my roommate for so long. Then somehow, in the mess of being here, we became friends. Tonight, that word doesn’t feel quite right anymore.’

An imaginative romcom with all the nostalgia of 90s and 2000s teen TV dramas magically playing out for two rather lost & lonely roommates, PRIME TIME ROMANCE proved that in the end, love wins–but sometimes in the most surprising of ways.

‘I have loved Carson’s Cove for as long as I can remember. But now that I’m here, I’m starting to rethink everything.’

If you’ve ever been glued to the screen watching reruns of angsty teenage dramas and dramedies (or for some of us, the original shows back in the day) then PRIME TIME ROMANCE will keep you highly entertained. Author Kate Robb used magical realism to sweep roommates Brynn and Josh from their Toronto townhouse to the fictional island town of Carson’s Cove to give the show’s characters the finale they deserved. But the path they had to travel was complicated. And funny. As well as equal parts sweet and spicy.

Based loosely on Dawson’s Creek with nods to Buffy, 90210, and The OC among others, readers will have to suspend disbelief as Robb turns Josh and Brynn’s lives upside down. And it was honestly a very easy thing to do. Because the way they show up on the island, fifteen years after the main characters parted ways abruptly–the writers didn’t realize the fifth season was its last one–it felt real. Brynn’s vast knowledge of the show kept her and Josh mostly on top of things. It was interesting to see how her perspective changed, though, over the days they played their parts, trying to give the MCs the HEA fans thought they deserved.

Brynn began to realize that how her teen self saw things working out isn’t necessarily how her thirty-year-old self sees things–particularly after a hellish divorce a couple of years ago. Josh’s perspective helped Brynn to realize just what she already had in her real life–and how that could influence her decisions as Sloan. The idea that everything in Carson’s Cove always works out as it should was a recurring theme. And I loved how Robb took that in a direction that was completely satisfying even if it wasn’t expected.

QOTD: The setting of Carson’s Cove was inspired in part by Dawson’s Creek. Are you Team Dawson or Team Pacey?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: September 3rd, 2024 | Penguin |

Is love on the small screen better than the real thing?

Brynn’s happy ending has gone up in flames. She’s newly divorced and living with a roommate – Josh – to afford her mortgage. At least she’s got Carson’s Cove to binge – her beloved 90s teenage soap.

So when a birthday cake shows up on her and Josh’s doorstep, Brynn makes a wish for her own happily-ever-after.

The next morning, she doesn’t wake up in her apartment. She’s in Carson’s Cove… and Josh is there too. Except they’re not Brynn and Josh; they’re the sweetheart and the bad boy.

Will they stick to the script, or will real love change the story forever?

A young divorcee finds herself in the ideal world of her favourite 90s nostalgia TV show, in this second-chance romantic comedy from the author of This Spells Love.

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Praise for Kate Robb

‘Utterly enchanting – a romance voice to watch’ BK Borison, author of Lovelight Farms
‘A rom-com meets magic delight…’ Sarah Adams, author of Practice Makes Perfect
‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll giggle and kick your feet’ *****
‘I want to reread it every year because it’s officially one of my comfort books’ *****
‘A super cute romance with a parallel timeline twist’ *****
‘This book gives you all the warm and snuggly feelings’’ *****